During his endorsement speech, Stack called Fulop “the premiere leader in the county” and guaranteed he would help his team knock on doors every night.

“Not only am I endorsing, but we’re gonna work extremely hard for a person that has worked extremely hard for Jersey City,” Stack said.

“As a fellow mayor, he’s worked closely with me, and it’s a pleasure, it’s breath of fresh air, to have somebody of Steve Fulop’s caliber here in Hudson County as the premiere leader in the county, as the mayor of Jersey City, to endorse for re-election of this great city.”

Fulop, who thanked Stack for introducing a sanctuary city reimbursement bill in the state Senate, said he plans on winning in November in record numbers.

“Our goal, this coming November, is to win with record numbers: not just to win by a little bit, but to win big. And I know, that when I look what’s here today, we’re gonna do that,” Fulop exclaimed.

He also warned supporters that the next year may be a tumultuous one for Jersey City, given issues such as the school funding formula and the city’s upcoming tax revaluation.

Speaking one-on-one with Hudson County View, Stack said he was prepared to endorse Fulop early in the campaign season and would’ve done so even earlier if he had asked him to.

On Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) recent remarks exclaiming he would veto his Senate bill, which would have the state reimburse sanctuary cities if their federal funding is pulled, Stack said he feels such an initiative would be “unconstitutional” by the President Donald Trump administration.

“We’re definitely concerned. I really believe though John, no matter what the president says, constitutionally it’s not gonna happen. I think the greatest protection we have right now is the federal court system. And I think the federal courts will never allow them to deny money.”

Additionally Fulop, who acknowledged that Stack’s support would give him a big boost in Wards C and D, said that everything is moving forward as planned and did not give any inclination that the early endorsement was to scare off potential challengers.

“I think we’re gearing up, we’re having some big quarters on fundraising, last quarter was a big quarter for us, this quarter will be just as big – if not larger,” explained Fulop.

“I think we’re redoing and reorganizing a lot of our county committee seats, so we’re fully engaged and we think it makes sense to do this now to build towards November.”

On the topic of the sanctuary city bill, Fulop said even if it is vetoed by the governor, it’s important to get this issue on the table, adding that it is unlikely to be resolved by the time Christie leaves office.

According to several Hudson County Democratic Organization sources, Fulop will also be receiving endorsements from Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise and state Senator (D-32)/North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco in the next couple of weeks.

Currently, his only challengers are former city Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis and ex-Assemblyman Charles Mainor.

Hudson County View is an independent media outlet covering news and politics for Hudson County, NJ, and all of its municipalities. Owned and operated by John Heinis, an investigative reporter, Hudson County View focuses on covering elections, public policy, lawsuits, corruption and all other things related to government and politics in Hudson County.